


Hidden Heritage

by MidnightCreator



Series: Paladin Pack: The Sub-Series [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU of an AU, AU-ception!, Alien Lance, Crying, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lance (Voltron)-centric, Patrian Lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 09:39:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11272863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidnightCreator/pseuds/MidnightCreator
Summary: Lance's family has a closely guarded secret.A secret that he swore not to tell unless he was sure of another loyalty.





	Hidden Heritage

Lance always knew he wasn’t like other humans.

Well, no, he knew at the age of four that how he looked and acted was not considered human. When his Mama had sat him down and explained that their family was a special one.

“Don’t all humans look like us Mama?”

Mrs. McClain laughed lightly, “Not exactly. You see, our ancestors came from a world far, far away from Earth. They came from a place called Patria and came here to find a new home.”

“But what happened to Patria?”

“A very bad man took it. So our ancestors had to run so they wouldn’t be caught.”

Lance nodded and leaned forward in his seat, “Then what happened?”

“Well, they came to Earth and started to blend in with the humans. Some of them fell in love with other humans some stayed with their own. But somewhere down the line, we came to be and so did you.”

Lance giggled as his Mama lightly tapped the tip of his nose, “Does that mean other humans know about our ancestors?”

Mrs. McClain’s face grew very serious and she placed her hands on Lance’s shoulders, “No, pure humans do not know of us. And you mustn’t tell anyone Lance.”

“Why?”

“Because sometimes, people are not kind and might hurt us if they knew.”

Lance tensed. The idea of any one of his family members being hurt made something curl uncomfortably tight in his gut, “I won’t tell, I promise!”

His Mama smiled and placed a kiss on Lance’s forehead, “There is an exception.”

Lance frowned, “What’s a…ex-sep-ion?”

“It means that when someone proves to you that they have an undying loyalty and love for who you are, then you can tell them. Do you understand Lance?”

“Yes Mama. I won’t tell unless I know they won’t hurt us. I promise!”

“There’s a good boy.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hiding himself was easier said then done.

When Lance turned ten, he was given a Spirit Crystal. The stone from Patria helped in hiding all of Lance’s non-human features but his ability to bond was not as easy to control.

Lance was extremely social. He craved to be in large groups.

His older sister speculated that it was because he had far more dominate Patrian traits then most of them did, causing him to have a much stronger pack instinct. His parents said he was just extremely extroverted.

Whatever the reason, it did change the fact that Lance, while he loved meeting new faces, was unable to fully open up to newcomers. He had made the mistake of doing so once and the event tore him to pieces.

He had felt a bond forming, at age fifteen with a boy he met on a town run with his siblings. He was the first person outside of his family that he had really opened up to. Lance had felt the bond forming and had thought it meant that all Martin had to do was prove his loyalty to him and then Lance could tell him all the amazing things about his family tree.

It made it hurt all the more when Lance run up to Martin one day and was met with a cruel sneer.

“You’re a weird-o and your entire family is a bunch of freaks.”

It dumbfounded Lance, so much so that he lost his voice, “But…I…”

“You what, thought we were friends? Are you that stupid? It was all a joke!” He laughed, sharp and cruel. “Like I would ever be friends with the country Mexican kid.”

Lance was conflicted, he didn’t know what to feel. He felt betrayed and angry. He wanted to scream and cry. The more feral part of his mind wanted claw and bite and show this jerk the price of turning his back on him. But Lance didn’t do any of that.

He stood, shaking and biting his lip, before stomping his foot and growling, “I’m from Cuba.” Then he turned and ran.

He didn’t run back to the car so he could wait for his siblings. He ran towards the sea.

He dived into the water and swam for a small cove, one that was hidden amongst the seaweed and other water plants. The cove would have been inaccessible to Lance if it wasn’t for the inborn shape shifting ability he had.

Everyone in the family could shape shift and Lance could transform his legs into a sleek, dolphin-like tail and open on the skin on his neck to form gills. It was a trait he was always grateful for, especially for when he just wanted to get away from everything.

He climbed into the cove, shifting back into his land form before crawling into a pile of moss and collapsing into a trembling mess of sobs. He cried as if the hurt could flow out with his tears.

But it didn’t, it stayed lodged in his chest until he cried himself to sleep.

When he opened his eyes, he wasn’t in the cove.

He was in space.

Lance gasped and jumped up, looking around wildly.

Everything around him was something straight out of a child’s astronomy book, a huge expanse of royal blue sky with a rainbow of stars. Lance looked down to see that he was standing on nothing, yet his feet felt like they were on solid ground.

“Okay, okay, okay, this is clearly some very weird dream.”

“In a way, yeah.”

Lance spun around with a yell, “WHO THE HECK-?!”

“Hey calm down.”

Lance gulped in huge breaths as he took in the stranger. The body and face looked relatively human in shape except he had a long fluffy tail and two pointed ears sticking up out of messy black hair. Fur covered his skin, blue-ish gray with white markings of the face, ear tips and tail tip.

Lance felt his breathe catch in his throat, “You’re a Patrian.”

The male laughed, “That I am. And you are one of my descendants.”

“I am!”

“Yes,” the Patrian stepped forward, hand out. “My name is Nekko. My great grandson was among the creatures that fled to Earth.”

“I-I’m Lance!” Lance quickly grabbed hold of Nekko’s hand and gave it a firm shake. “It’s so…amazing to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Nekko smiled, warm and open. Lance could feel the acceptance and love swirling around him and it made a pleasant heat resonate in his heart.

“If, uh, you don’t mind me asking,” Lance looked around as they released each other hands. “What is this place?”

“This is the Bridge.”

“Wait, what?” Lance knew of the Bridge, everyone in the family knew all the old stories from Patria. That included the three plains. “Isn’t it, you know, inaccessible to most people?”

Nekko shrugged, “Most, yes. But you inherited a Spirit Beast.”

“And I’m lost.”

Nekko snorted, “Then why don’t we sit down. Much of your heritage has been preserved by word of mouth but they can’t know everything.”

Lance nodded and sat down, “Okay, okay, you can start with what a Spirit Beast is.”

Nekko sat as well, crossing his legs, “It’s a spiritual animal that inhabits living hosts. It binds itself to the spirit of the living host and creates an inseparable bond over time.”

“Dude,” Lance let out a low whistle. “Sounds like something out of a fantasy novel.”

Nekko frowned and flicked an ear back, “Not sure what that is but at least you are quick to understand.”

“Wait, wait, waitwait,” Lance waved his hands. “Now I got tons of questions about Spirit Beasts. Is mine the same as yours? Is it the reason I have so many Patrian traits? Oh! Do I get super special powers because of it?!”

Nekko laughed, “No, maybe and yes. Each Spirit Beast is different, even when the trait is passed through families. Allow me to show you.”

Lance frowned in confusion before a loud caw made him jump. A large black feathered bird swooped down from seemingly out of nowhere, landing on Nekko’s shoulder. It cocked its head at Lance before turning to preen its feathers.

“Whoa,” Lance looked up at Nekko, excitement rushing through him anew. “Can I summon mine?”

Nekko nodded, “Yes, just call it.”

Lance grinned, “Here Spirit Beast. I want to see you!”

For a moment, there was no reply. Lance frowned, worried that he had done something wrong.

A thunderous roar seemed to shake the ground and a huge form bounded out of thin air right towards Lance.

Lance gasped as he took in the sleek, blue lion standing before him. It was twice as big as a normal lion, towering over Lance. Huge wings stretched out from its back and warm amber eyes seemed to smile down at him.

The young half-human reached up a hand to carefully run his figures through the lion’s fur. “Wow.” He turned to Nekko, “Wow…mine is so much cooler then yours.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hiding his heritage had been much easier at home. Lance had only been around people enough to get to know them on a surface level. He was homeschooled so he didn’t really bond with classmates growing up. Most kids his age thought he was weird or to loud or to dumb to hang out with. Adults, he felt, politely tolerated him.

Avoiding bonds forming was easy back home. The Garrison was a very different story.

It wasn’t the whole student body, most people just kept to themselves and their circle of friends. But Lance found himself unable to not open up to his roommate.

Hunk was always so warm and friendly. Lance swore up and down that if pure goodness and sunshine had a human form it would look like Hunk Garret.

Lance had done his best to not fully open up, make sure that his roommate never got to see his true self. But between classes, studying, pressure from the instructors and the fact he was extremely prone to homesickness, he really should have seen the inevitable breakdown.

“Shhh, you’re okay, you’re okay buddy.”

Lance let out a low whine and buried his face into Hunk’s shoulder. That day hadn’t been anything remarkable; it had been just a normal day of classes. But Lance had been feeling like crud for a few days and his mild cold combined with homesickness and the fact that he was a very emotional guy had led to him suddenly bursting into tears.

And Hunk, bless his soul, had acted immediately, “I got you buddy. Just breath.”

Lance nodded and focused on the steady rise and fall of Hunk’s chest.

Hunk had his arms completely encasing Lance, one large hand rubbing up and down the smaller boys back. His presence was warm and comforting for Lance, smoothing out the frazzled edges of anxiety and stress. Lance knew his walls were crumbling but he was to emotionally exhausted to care.

Hunk had been nothing but a saint since he and Lance met and Lance didn’t have it in him to push the other away, “I…I miss home.”

“I know,” Hunk soothed.

“I miss my Mama.”

“I know buddy.”

“I miss the ocean.”

“We’ll get you to a beach soon.”

Lance sniffed helplessly, wishing that he could just climb in the tub and shift into his aquatic form, could stop draining so much of his energy into holding his human disguise. He wanted to be able to just let go and let his true self shine through.

But he couldn’t. He’d promised that he would not betray the family secret.

So he settled for just letting Hunk hold him.

 

* * *

 

When Lance felt the bond between him and Hunk forming, he immediately suppressed it.

It was painful and felt so wrong but Lance didn’t want to risk his emotion and thoughts leaking into Hunk’s brain.

His crystal helped. It helped in boosting his already high stamina and made it easier to do more difficult magic stuff. But suppressing part of that magic still stung.

He was grateful that it was just Hunk he had to hind the bond from. He had no clue what he would do if he had to hold it back from others.

 

* * *

 

 

It didn’t take too long for Lance learn how it felt to hold back multiple bonds. It felt like he was dying from the inside out. 

He tried so hard not to let anyone on the Voltron team see past his walls, but that task was easier said then done when the super weapon they welded needed all five pilots to be on the same mental wave-length to work.

And, despite Lance’s best efforts, every few days someone would be complaining about a headache or having a weird sense that someone was in their head.

But Lance did get a little relief in terms of the fact he had his own room. He could just lock the door and shift into his real form for a time. If someone asked why he always took forever to get up, he would tell them he needed his beauty sleep or he needed to take care of his skin.

It wasn’t a complete lie. Lance did love to sleep and his beauty routine but those didn’t take him too long. It was letting his body breath that took awhile.

Lance stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, a furred face with a cream white base and dark brown markings stared back. His ears were positioned on the sides of his head but stretched to much farther length then human ears, with little tufts of fur on the tips of each. His tail curled up behind him, brown colored tip flicking back and forth. His eyes were still blue but the pupil had narrowed into a more oval shaped. The changes weren’t very drastic in Lance’s mind but it was enough to put a strain on him when he had to hide the non-human traits away.

Lance sighed and picked up a comb, carefully brushing it through the tufts of fur on his cheeks, “Maybe I should tell everyone. I mean, they have proved that they have my back….but maybe they just do that because they have to. I don’t want to tell any of them if their not honest with their options of me.” His tail and ears twitched. “…maybe I can ask Nekko. He always has good advice.”

“Lance!” Keith’s voice interrupted Lance’s musings. “Quit messing around! We have training!”

“Keep your shirt on Mullet,” Lance shot back. “Beauty like mine takes some work.”

He heard Keith grumble but he walked away, footsteps echoing slightly in the hallway.

Lance stood still until he couldn’t hear Keith’s paces any more before he set his comb down with a sigh, “Guess that chat with my ancestor will have to wait.”

He clasped one hand around the blue crystal around his neck. He felt the pulse of magical energy and the slight shift in his body.

Physically, shape-shifting never hurt, not really at least. But the more Lance did it the more his skin felt too tight for his body. It made him feel trapped in his own body.

But there was nothing for it, not until he was sure that team Voltron was the exception to the family rule.

 

* * *

 

 

“I mean, I want to tell them but I need to know for sure that they are loyal and all that." 

Nekko nodded, “I understand that the promise you made is important to you Lance. But I would suggest making a decision soon.”

“I’m fine Nekko.”

“No, you are not. You’re expending to much magic everyday, even with your crystal. You’re going to make yourself sick at this rate.”

Lance sighed. He couldn’t even argue the point with Nekko because he knew he was right. Between suppressing bonds, holding his human form, missions, training and normal, everyday activities, Lance was finding it harder and harder to find enough energy to get him through the days.

“I don’t know Nekko…I want to at least tell Hunk but he is soooo bad about keeping secrets.”

Nekko shrugged, “Well I can’t really walk into the physical plain and meet them all but from what you tell me they seem like a nice potential pack.”

Lance snorted, “Potential? We pretty much are one.”

“Not until you properly bond with them.”

“Right, right, got’cha.”

Nekko frowned and leaned forward, “I’m serious Lance. Do not overdo it. I don’t care how high you magical energy is or how much power your Sprit Beast and Spirit Crystal give you. Figure out a way to give yourself a break, understand?”

“Yes sir.”

 

* * *

 

 

Lance had been planning to tell them, the strain on his body had gotten to the point where he felt like he had no other choice but to tell everyone. 

But there had been a chest cold going around the last week and it was Lance’s turn with it. And the already icky symptoms of a cold coupled with Lance’s exhaustion made for a very sluggish and sickly Blue Paladin.

But he refused to lie down and be lazy when everyone else had pushed though their colds just fine.

The choice had been his downfall.

Training seemed to be twice as grueling that day, despite Shiro having mercy and letting Lance take it a little easier. Every move made him feel dizzy, blinking felt draining and everything was extremely muffled.

He didn’t even notice he was collapsing until he was already on the ground.

“Lance!” Hunk’s heavy footfalls come closer and Lance feels himself being gathered up into large, strong arms. “Lance, what happened?”

Lance didn’t want to talk. He wanted to sit down and freaking _breath._

“Uh, guys,” Pidge’s voice piped up. “He’s glowing.”

Glowing?....Oh, he must have hit his limit. His disguise was fading.

“What’s happening to him?” Keith sounded worried. He must look bad if even Keith was worried.

Lance felt a cold hand press against his forehead and recognized the smooth texture of metal against his skin. “His fever may have spiked.”

“Guys,” Pidge said again before a collective gasp filled the room.

 _“Cat’s out of the bag,”_ Lance thought.

“What…how…Lance what…,” poor Hunk sounded like he had no clue what was going on, it made Lance feel a bit bad so he tried to offer some comfort by curling his tail loosely around Hunk’s wrist.

The chocked noise of shock was a bit far off of the reaction he wanted, “What happened to Lance?!”

“I…,” Shiro sounded just as confused, maybe a little panicked as well. “I have no clue. We haven’t landed anywhere recently.”

“Maybe he got some weird virus on Arus that mutated his DNA,” Pidge cried. She sounded like she was trying to deicide if she should be scared or excited over Lance’s transformation.

“But wouldn’t we all be mutating if that was the case?” Keith asked. Good old, practical Keith who sounded so neutral except for that slight edge of fear in his voice.

The training deck doors hissed open. “Paladins, what is going on?”

Lance tensed a bit at Allura’s cross tone. She never did like everyone stopping in the middle of training.

“Something's wrong with Lance,” Shiro supplied.

“He’s turning into a giant cat!” Hunk sounded like he was about to burst into tears.

“What’s that you say?” Coran’s bright and chipper tone accompanies his borderline skipping pace as he walks over to the group.

He gasps and Lance feels a gloved hand brush against his ear, “Why did none of you say Lance was a Patrian?”

“A patri…what?” Keith asked.

“A Patrian!” Coran sounded excited. “I thought they went extinct while the Princess and I were in cryo-sleep but Lance shares such an uncanny resemblance with the race! He must be one!”

“Half,” Lance choked out. Yes, he had a lot of Patrian traits but there was no need to lead Coran on in thinking Lance was pure Patrian.

Hunk let out a little squeak and pulled Lance in closer to his chest, “Dude, what is happening to you? I thought you had just a cold!”

Lance sighed. He really wanted to sleep but he couldn’t leave everyone hanging. “Can use magic….been hiding…overdid it today.”

“Ah, of course!” Coran piped up. “I remember my Grandfather telling me about Patrian magic. They all had a limit to how much they could use at one time and I believe he said that if a Patrian exceeded their limit they…” Coran paused. “Lance my boy, are you-?”

“Nah,” Lance shook his head. “Didn’t push it enough to kill myself.”

“What?!” Hunk was in panic mode. “Lance is dying?!”

“No, no, he’s just a bit drained as you humans say,” Lance could hear the smile in Coran’s voice. “A good rest and meal will have him up and moving as normal in no time!”

“You’re sure?” Hunk’s hold tightened again, electing a small wheeze from Lance.

“Air bro.”

“OH! Sorry, sorry,” the hold around Lance loosened.

“Thanks buddy,” Lance yawned and cracked an eye open enough to see all the worried faces peering down at him. He looked up at Shiro, “Can I take off training and have a nap?”

Shiro blinked, and then face softened as his brushed Lance’s bangs away from his forehead, “Sure thing kiddo. Rest up.”

Lance smiled and let sleep claim him.

 

* * *

 

 

“They took it surprisingly well. 

Nekko laughed, shaking his head, “The five of you pilot giant robot lion ships and fight a ten-thousand year old emperor and his empire while living out of an ancient alien flying castle. At this point you turning out to be not fully human should be nothing more then mild shock.”

Lance shrugged, “Eh, it was a little over mild but, all in all, at least I don’t have to drain so much energy into holding my human form. And Hunk loves when I grab him with my tail.”

Nekko snorted, “I’m sure he does. And the others?”

“They’ve kind of accepted it. I mean, sometimes Keith will forget that I’ve pretty much stopped using the human form but he bounces back quick. Pidge keeps asking me stuff about bonds and magic. Oh! And Shiro will not admit it but I know he likes my ears.”

“Well, they are a very handsome set of ears.”

“Tell that to Allura! She still thinks that my ears are ugly!”

“Ha!” Nekko shoulders shook with laughter.

Lance joined in until the sound of their joy echoed throughout the starry expanse of the Bridge.

**Author's Note:**

> And here we have the first installment in the Paladin Pack sub-series!  
> This was actually the original idea for the AU, where Lance is a descendant of the Patrians. 
> 
> Hope ya'll enjoyed and I hope you all have an awesome day! :3


End file.
